As a Senior Industrial Designer at Pablo Designs, a lot of the work done is in conjunction with Pablo as well as other satellite designers to see products through to production. One of the very first projects I got to work on was a line extension for the Belmont Pendant. The Pendant lamp was a product developed with Brad Ascalon, and the continuation of the product family was an ongoing design conversation with Brad. I helped realize the Belmont Floor and Belmont Table models, incorporating his feedback along with the Pablo Designs Studio team.
From the Pablo website:
“The Belmont Collection was a collaborative creation with designer Brad Ascalon re-envisioning the traditional fabric shade lamp but with the warmth and preciousness of hand crafted furniture. Belmont’s iconic, yet reductive form creates a natural canvas for displaying an exquisite array of textiles from premium wool to colorful woven fabrics that can be paired with a solid crafted oak wood armature. Belmont can be hung individually or in stunning groupings to provide warm and comfortable illumination to complement any residential, contract, or hospitality setting.”
Below is the original pendant lamp, shown in a cluster and demonstrating three of the current fabric options, (clockwise from the top) Dijon, Charcoal and Silverdale.
Below is the Belmont Floor. The choice was made to use the same lamp shade as the pendant and still carry over the wood element. The support legs offer a simple and light silhouette that elevates the shade on a whimsical tripod, crafted out of wood and finished with brass hardware. The legs are available in oak and walnut.
Below is the Belmont Table. This lamp also carried over the wood element in the form of a solid base. The wood base is attached to a lower portion that houses the subtle tech of this lamp - a power/light control button that commands full range dimming and a USB Type-A port (a big value add in the hospitality sector). The base is available in oak and walnut.
Here's a peek into some process for the lamps.
Here's a 3D printed tripod connector for the floor lamp, I was sorting out the angle that the legs would be set to get us the proportion, stance, height, and stability we were after.
Each leg of the Floor lamp is made of two dowels, joined together with a threaded stud very similar to a pool cue! This image shows the joint, which has a solid brass accent. One of the three has a wire clip built in to manage the power cable that drops out of the shade.
After exploring quite a few grip feet options for the legs of the Floor, we opted for an OTS (off-the-shelf) solution seated into a machined pocket at the bottom of the legs.
Here's how the feet look on the ground.
Here are some images of CMF refinement, demonstrating two variations of grain on walnut pieces (such a beautiful species of wood!). For these lamps we favored the top example, as the grain is more consistent.
This is a closer shot of one of our show samples. The power button and USB port are higher than they will be in production, this was done as a safety precaution by the factory since these early prototypes were metal and the PCB needed to be insulated from it so it wouldn't short.
This is a peek at the light engines sitting on the two wood finishes we offer, walnut (front left) and oak (rear right).
Holy heat sink, batman! The heat sink for this lamp needed to be about 60% taller than the Pendant and Floor versions because the aluminum is below the LED board and the heat sink is also attached directly to the wood. The added surface area from the much taller fins allows the heat to dissipate enough for great performance.
The shade has been opaque for the Pendant shades, something we experimented with with the Table (shown) and Floor was a more traditional translucent shade.
The top diffuser is very unforgiving in terms of showing unwanted shadows from the support legs. Here are some quick wire mockups I did to try and minimize the visible shadows.
This is an early view upwards into the lamp shade, the view you would have when reading your favorite book.
Quick 1:5 scale paper mock ups for packaging for the Floor model.
Quick 1:5 scale paper mock ups for packaging for the Table model.
This is the Floor at ICFF 2018 in New York, under the Pendants that came before it.
This lamp publicly launched at Light + Build in Frankfurt, Germany in March 2018.
